Foxborugh: Kraft's Bullying Begins!

It looks like Bob Kraft's Bullying is beginning!

This is behavior to be expected when the privileged don't get their way and residents are not simply acquiescing to the Elegant Kraft/Wynn Slot Barn cash cow.

Interesting article below about a flyer sent to Foxborough residents! [It is unclear why this was discussed in Executive Session.]

It might seem that Foxborough loves their "Patriots" and has offered generous accommodations without knowing the costs as the comment below about drunk drivers indicates. [What does that do to auto insurance costs of residents?]




Kraft group strikes back
By Frank Mortimer Sun Chronicle Staff
Monday, March 26, 2012

The Kraft Group sent a flyer to Foxboro households over the weekend regarding its billboard agreement with Foxboro.

Mailing says some Foxboro leaders hurting relationship
FOXBORO - A Kraft Group flyer sent to thousands of Foxboro households over the weekend criticizes town officials over a billboard controversy, a rare move by the owners of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium.

The flyer says some town leaders are hurting a 25-year town-Kraft relationship in a shortsighted grab for all the revenue generated by two billboards on Route 1.

But in separate interviews Sunday, four town officials all said state bidding laws require the town to seek competitive bids for the billboard management contract.

And one of the officials, Selectwoman Lorraine Brue, a candidate for re-election on May 7, says the Kraft mailer smacks of politics.

"It strikes me as interesting that I was singled out (in the Kraft mailing) when seven elected officials voted to put this contract out for bid," Brue said. "This is definitely politics. The Kraft Group would prefer to see me not re-elected." Kraft Group Spokesman Jeff Cournoyer disagrees with Brue's assessment.

"Ms. Brue's quotes are in the mailing because she is the only current member of the board who is consistently quoted as being strongly in favor of seeking a better deal via public bid. Her campaign website also cites a 'more competitive agreement' on the billboards as a priority," he said in a statement Sunday night.

"Since there has been no public dialogue, we can only go by her comments, which show that she is a primary sponsor of this agenda," he said.

William Euerle, chairman of the board of water and sewer commission, confirmed Sunday that his board voted 3-0 in favor of putting the billboards management contract out to bid, and that the board of selectmen agrees.

"It's not an adversarial thing. It's business, and we're playing it straight," said Michael Stanton, vice chairman of the water and sewer board.

Newly released minutes of an April 12, 2011 selectmen's executive session [It is unclear why this discussion took place in Executive Session.] verify that the four present selectmen voted to direct Town Manager Kevin Paicos, the town's chief procurement officer, to send out invitations for bids to manage the billboards. Selectmen Chairman Larry Harrington was absent during that meeting. Since 2008, Kraft Group has managed the town's billboards across Route 1 from Patriot Place in a revenue sharing agreement made without competitive bidding under the watch of a previous town counsel.

Ads on the four faces of the billboards produced nearly $1.2 million in net revenue in that time. The ad arrangement is set to expire in May.

Current town counsel Paul DeRensis says that under state law public bidding of the contract is required.

The first round of bid requests drew no bids, and the town's special counsel has been authorized to put out new requests without a minimum required revenue guarantee to the town.

The Kraft flyer, which reached many homes in Saturday's mail, portrays the town's recent bid efforts as end-run around a partner of long-standing, and takes particular exception to a town move, proposed on the May 14 town meeting warrant, to seize certain land around the billboards by eminent domain.

"Recently, we have been disturbed by developments related to ongoing negotiations to fund water and sewer expansion in the town," The Kraft Group wrote. "In that process, some members of town leadership have tried to circumvent The Kraft Group to gain control of revenue from billboards on our land and now considering taking the land by eminent domain."

"We are sending this message because it has proven a challenge to have our voice heard on this issue," the introduction goes on to say.

It charges that, during the March 13 selectmen's meeting, Town Manager Kevin Paicos "overstepped his authority by silencing our comments under the Citizens Input agenda item."

"As stated in the cover letter, we attempted to raise these concerns at two public meetings and weren't allowed to speak," Cournoyer said in Sunday's statement.

One section of the three-fold, double-sided glossy folder recounts Kraft Group's major contributions to the local economy and community, noting that it employs hundreds of people, is the town's largest taxpayer, and voluntarily supports a host of municipal and community needs.



Foxborough—population 17,000—already has problems dealing with the 68,000 fans who show up to every Patriots’ home game. The crowds create massive traffic jams, dump trash everywhere, and drink too much. (Foxborough accounted for six percent of Massachusetts’s alcohol-related arrests in 2011 despite being home to just .25 percent of the state’s citizens). “Game days are awful,” said Elizabeth Whitney, who’s lived in the area for thirty years. “You really have to plan your life around them,” agreed Mary Slein, who moved here from Boston a year ago.

From: As Kraft and Wynn up the ante, casino causes concern in Foxborough